page_title: Pin-tailed sandgrouse
section_title: Breeding
hierarchical_section_title: Pin-tailed sandgrouse / Breeding
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch&#x3a;&#32; Ei eines Spießflughuhn. Sammlung von Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut Fundort: Gard, Frankreich.English&#x3a;&#32; Egg of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. Collection of Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut Locality: Gard, FranceFrançais&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Œuf de Ganga cata. Collection de Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut Localité&#160;: Gard, France Muséum de Toulouse &#160;&#160;Native nameMuséum de ToulouseLocationToulouse , FranceCoordinates43°&#160;35′&#160;38″&#160;N, 1°&#160;26′&#160;57″&#160;E &#160;Established1796&#58; &#32;established&#160;; 1865&#58; &#32;opened to publicWeb pagewww.museum.toulouse.frAuthority control : Q422 VIAF:&#8201;131004808 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2158 3469 SUDOC:&#8201;028667107 BNF:&#8201;120455376 Museofile:&#8201;M7013 institution QS:P195,Q422
context_page_description: The pin-tailed sandgrouse is a medium large bird in the sandgrouse family. It has a small, pigeon like head and neck and a sturdy, compact body. It has long pointed wings, which are white underneath, a long tail and a fast direct flight. Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn. The call is a loud kattar-kattar. This gregarious species breeds on dry open treeless plains and similar habitats. Its nest is a ground scrape into which two or three cream-coloured eggs with cryptic markings are laid. Both sexes incubate the eggs.
  The pin-tailed sandgrouse is about 35 centimetres long. Its head and upperparts are yellowish-green. The underparts are white with a chestnut breast band separating the belly from the green neck. Sexes are somewhat similar, but the female is better camouflaged and has a shorter tail than the male. There are two subspecies; P. a. alchata breeds in southern Europe and P. a. caudacutus breeds in northwestern Africa, the Middle East and southeastern Asia. It is a partial migrant, with some Asian birds moving to the Middle East and northern Pakistan in winter.
context_section_description: The pin-tailed sandgrouse nests in a slight depression on the ground in the open. Two or three eggs are laid at intervals of two days, creamy-brown spotted with darker brown, reddish-brown and grey. Both parents share the task of incubation which lasts from nineteen to twenty five days. The male starts his shift about an hour before sunset and the female takes over after she has been to the waterhole in the morning. The young are precocial and leave the nest soon after they have hatched. Both parents care for them but only the male is involved in bringing them water, absorbed by the feathers on his breast. The chicks are able to feed themselves by the age of a week and can fly by the time they are four weeks old. They are dependent on their parents for two months and attain their adult plumage at about four months. There is normally a single brood each year but if the eggs are destroyed or removed, more eggs may be laid.
caption: Egg
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